Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to devices, systems, and methods for navigating within the lung.
Description of Related Art
A common device for inspecting the airway of a patient is a bronchoscope. Typically, the bronchoscope is inserted into a patient's airways through the patient's nose or mouth and can extend into the lungs of the patient. A typical bronchoscope includes an elongated flexible tube having an illumination assembly for illuminating the region distal to the bronchoscope's tip, an imaging assembly for providing a video image from the bronchoscope's tip, and a working channel through which instruments, e.g., diagnostic instruments such as biopsy tools, therapeutic instruments can be inserted.
Bronchoscopes, however, are limited in how far they may be advanced through the airways due to their size. Where the bronchoscope is too large to reach a target location deep in the lungs a clinician may utilize certain real-time imaging modalities such as fluoroscopy. Fluoroscopic images, while useful present certain drawbacks for navigation as it is often difficult to distinguish luminal passageways from solid tissue. Moreover, the images generated by the fluoroscope are two-dimensional whereas navigating the airways of a patient requires the ability to maneuver in three dimensions.
To address these issues systems have been developed that enable the development of three-dimensional models of the airways or other luminal networks, typically from a series of computed tomography (CT) images. One such system has been developed as part of the ILOGIC® ELECTROMAGNETIC NAVIGATION BRONCHOSCOPY® (ENB™) system currently sold by Covidien LP. The details of such a system are described in the commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,820, filed on Mar. 29, 2004 by Gilboa and entitled ENDOSCOPE STRUCTURES AND TECHNIQUES FOR NAVIGATING TO A TARGET IN BRANCHED STRUCTURE, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
While the system as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,233,820 is quite capable, there is always a need for development of improvements and additions to such systems.